Though I am saying that 80,000 Hours’ research can’t offer a single, definite ranking of what is best for everyone to do, that doesn’t mean that their research isn’t very useful for people figuring out what it is best for them to do
Well, they do offer A list of the most urgent global problems. I’ll grant this isn’t a list of what it is best for everyone to do, but it is (plausibly, from their perspective) a list of what it is best for most people to do (or ‘most EAs’ or some nearby specification). Indeed, given 80k has a concept of ‘personal fit’, which is distinct from their rating of the problems, the natural reading of the list is that it provides a general, impersonal ranking of where (average?) individuals can do the most good.
I’m concerned you’re defending a straw man - did anyone ever claim 80k’s list was true for every single possible person? I don’t think so and such a claim would be implausible.
I’m concerned you’re defending a straw man - did anyone ever claim 80k’s list was true for every single possible person? I don’t think so and such a claim would be implausible.
As an anecdote, I’ve always read their list and recommendations as applying to their target audience of talented graduates of elite Western colleges.
To be clear, I don’t know whether they specifically target elite college graduates. I was speaking slightly loosely and don’t have any inside information on 80k. It just seems to me that use elite colleges are a proxy for ambitious graduates.
Well, they do offer A list of the most urgent global problems. I’ll grant this isn’t a list of what it is best for everyone to do, but it is (plausibly, from their perspective) a list of what it is best for most people to do (or ‘most EAs’ or some nearby specification). Indeed, given 80k has a concept of ‘personal fit’, which is distinct from their rating of the problems, the natural reading of the list is that it provides a general, impersonal ranking of where (average?) individuals can do the most good.
I’m concerned you’re defending a straw man - did anyone ever claim 80k’s list was true for every single possible person? I don’t think so and such a claim would be implausible.
As an anecdote, I’ve always read their list and recommendations as applying to their target audience of talented graduates of elite Western colleges.
Have they ever admitted to specifically targeting graduates of elite colleges rather than ambitious graduates generally?
To be clear, I don’t know whether they specifically target elite college graduates. I was speaking slightly loosely and don’t have any inside information on 80k. It just seems to me that use elite colleges are a proxy for ambitious graduates.
Yup. In which case, it is a ‘big list’ for such folks.